BEIJING: With a US$113 million budget, the most expensive Chinese film ever made has become a flop of historic proportions, pulled from theatres on…
BEIJING: With a US$113 million budget, the most expensive Chinese film ever made has become a flop of historic proportions, pulled from theatres on its opening weekend after bringing in a paltry US$7.3 million.
Alibaba Pictures’ special effects-heavy fantasy film Asura was intended as the first instalment in an epic trilogy inspired by Tibetan Buddhist mythology, part of a drive by authorities to promote works bearing elements of traditional Chinese culture.
The film cost 750 million yuan (US$113.5 million) to make, state media said, and opened on Friday (Jul 13), but Chinese ticketing platform Maoyan said it only took in just over US$7.3 million at the weekend.
By Sunday, the film’s official social media account posted a statement declaring that it would be removed from theatres as of 10pm that night.
« We express our apologies to all those who wanted to but won’t have the chance to see it, » it said.
Most of China’s biggest blockbusters to date have been made with half the budget lavished on Asura.
The estimated loss of US$106 million would make it the fifth-biggest flop in movie history worldwide, behind frontrunner Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas which suffered losses of US$125 million, according to data from website Box Office Mojo.
